The Indiana Publisher

Publisher The Indiana Volume 79, Issue 2 • February 13, 2014 Published on second Thursday monthly Foundation Front: Mega conference planned for September will replace traditional February event. Page 3 Vevay Media Group: Longtime General Man- ager and Editor Patrick Lanman buys newspa- pers. Page 5 Revenue: Plan now to capitalize on the publi- cation of a much-read notice – school perfor- mance reports. Page 7 Hey, can they do that? Steve Key answers your legal ques- tions. Page 8 INSIDE Postal bill would end Saturday delivery Print grocery coupons reign among moms Bosma on right track with public access Lawmaker removes gag from ag statute Barring amendments, USPS would have more rate control T he National Newspaper Association would likely oppose current postal reform legislation unless lawmakers amend the proposal, the group said. The Senate committee with Postal Service oversight, the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, approved the modified postal bill by a vote of 9 to 1 this month. As written, S. 1486 would allow the elimination of Saturday delivery after mail volume falls to 140 billion pieces annually, ex pected to occur in about 2018 at the current decline rate, according to Tonda Rush, chief executive officer of the NNA. The legislation would allow a review of postal rate increases after implementation instead of before, as they are now, Rush said. It would also give the U.S. Postal Service a more liberal hand to raise postal rates for newspapers and cut rates for newspaper competitors, she said. 2014 INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY T he Hoosier State Press Associ ation continues to deal with state leg- islation that would negatively impact public notice advertising. The worst is H.B. 1033, authored by State Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel. This bill would put mailed, free publications on an equal footing with paid-circula- tion newspapers for eligibility to carry public notice advertisements. Torr introduced the bill to help Brian Kelly, pub- lisher of the Current, a free publi- cation in Carmel. HSPA explained to Torr that the Current could become the public records publica- tion for that city under present law, and Torr said he would allow the bill to die if HSPA confirmed that fact. But Torr changed his mind and pushed the bill forward. HSPA testified against the bill before the House Government and Regulatory Affairs Committee, but lawmakers approved it 11-1. The full House approved the bill 86-8. State Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, is sponsoring the bill. S.B. 367 and H.B. 1266, authored respectively by State Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, and State Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington, are bills introduced for the state Department of Local Government Finance. They include a provision eliminating the require- ment that local government units publish their proposed budgets as part of the notice of the bud- get hearing, where the public can speak on the budget and proposed tax rates. HSPA spoke against this change during the H.B. 1266 hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee and S.B. 367's hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee. H.B. 1266 was moved without any change to the public notice At stake: Public notice advertising Brandt Hershman HSPA opposes bill that would make free publications equal to newspapers T he 2014 General Assembly session includes several bills that have touched on the First Amendment and protection of anony- mous sources. S.B. 101, authored by State Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, was introduced as an "ag-gag" bill infring- ing on the First Amendment by creating the possibility of criminal trespass for taking photos of agriculture operations without the per- mission of owners. The Hoosier State Press Association, Indiana Broadcasters Association, Hoosier Environmental Council, Humane Society of Indiana, Citizens P rint ads and supermarket circulars take the lead when it comes to how mothers find coupons, according to a survey by Womensforum.com. Asked to rank how they get grocery coupons, most respondents said they find coupons through print ads (78 percent) and supermarket circulars (65 percent). Fifty-five percent of those questioned said they get coupons online, too. Fielded in December, 2,243 res pondents completed the Womensforum.com Supermarket Moms Survey. Each was a mother with at least one child still living at home and primarily does food shopping at a supermarket. H SPA is again supporting public access leg- islation that originated with discussions with Speaker of the House Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis. H.B. 1306, authored by State Rep. Bill Friend, R-Macy, changes the Access to Public Records Act in two ways. It gives the option to a records requester to have an electronic record delivered in that format (Word document or Excel spread- sheet, for examples). Current law gives the agency the option to require the requester to drive to the office and get a paper copy. It creates a search fee if a voluminous records request requires more than two hours of search time to find the records. HSPA worked with Bosma to determine the parameters of the search fee provision. See NOTICE, Page 6 See ACCESS, Page 6 See AG GAG, Page 4 Brian Bosma Travis Holdman Jerry Torr

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